Do Not Mutilate

2017, 2023
letterpress, poetry, data cards, handwoven fabric
series of 14, each 12 x 8 inches

This series combines prints on paper with handwoven fabric, completed during artist residencies at Penland School of Craft in 2017 (letterpress) and 2023 (textiles).

Fourteen poems were written as they were set in metal type, a process slower than handwriting or the keyboard or cognitive synapses. Without a guiding outline for the text, the resulting poems show the pace of the process: interruptions and drifting thought. Once set in metal, the rough drafts could not easily be edited and were ready to publish. I printed them on library borrower cards, whose small holes made a sieve for the language. Some letters were lost, and though printed in an edition, each card held its own incomplete version of the poem. Another reason I chose to print on punch cards was their relation to the history of weaving and information science. This is a data storage system that originated from 19th century Jacquard weaving looms and led to computer programming.